1. Field Of The Invention
This invention relates generally to toy characters or figures and more particularly to a toy character that has a portion changeable from one appearance to another in response to a change in air pressure.
2. Background Art
Action characters or figures, particularly those which may be manipulated or actuated to perform some act or effect some change in the character, are popular toys. An example of such toy figures currently enjoying commercial success are the Battle Armor, He-Man and Skeletor figures sold by Mattel, Inc. in which a cylindrical piece revolves to show dents in chest armor. U.S. Pat. No. 3,346,989 discloses a prior art toy pneumatic space capsule for a character in which a pump was used to change the shape or position of bellows arms molded with preset accordion pleats to bring the ends of the arms in toward each other. In prior art U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,153,881 and 2,688,208, changes in pressure have been used to animate portions of a doll. However, the mechanisms employed in the dolls disclosed in the prior art U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,153,881 and 2,668,208 were relatively complex and would have to be used in rather large scale dolls. Accordingly, there remains a need for a simplified mechanism that will enable the use of a pressure operated changeable feature in smaller scale action characters or figures in the range of three to seven inches tall.